ondary Data SearchThe North American Swimwear MarketGeneral Sales CharacteristicsThe total North American swimwear market has experienced significant growth during the past decade, and as of 1999 the American swimwear market was approximately $2.2 Billion. Between 1993 and 1999, the total market had the following characteristics:The total market grew 37% in terms of sales.During the same time, it experienced an 18.1% growth in the number of units sold.This translates to an increase of 15.9% in the average unit price: from $16.65 to $19.3. (refer to Appendix, Exhibit 1).The total market can be divided into swimwear for sports apparel and logo (brand name). Between 1993 and 1999, the swimwear for sports apparel market had the following characteristics:A growth of 59.8% in terms of sales. An increase of 37% in the number of units sold.This translates to an increase of 16.2% in the average unit price: from $16.87 to $19.61.While the logo market had the following characteristics:A growth of 164.6% in terms of sales, and almost doubling as a percentage of total sales: from 16.2% to 31.3%.An increase of 111.7% in the number of units sold.This translates to the greatest increase of 26.7% in the average unit price: from $15.22 to $19.29.Gender DifferencesThere is a large disparity between the market size for men and women. Women spend much more on swimwear than men due their higher participation in water activities, greater quality requirements, but most importantly because of the hope of looking sexy and the fear of looking saggy.Women outsell men 2 to 1 on a unit basis. In 1999, swimwear expenditures by women accounted for 78.1 % of total sales.Although the womens market is much larger than the mens, and growing more quickly in absolute terms, it is becoming smaller in term of percentages. The total market grew by 37% between 1993 and 1999, yet womens expenditures decreased as a percentage of the whole, from 80.3% to 78.1%. During the sa...
